Secular religiosity

The First Amendment begins: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." During Thomas Jefferson's presidency, a Massachusetts newspaper published his letter containing the phrase "a wall of separation between church and state." Supreme Court rulings and debat...

The First Amendment begins: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." During Thomas Jefferson's presidency, a Massachusetts newspaper published his letter containing the phrase "a wall of separation between church and state." Supreme Court rulings and debates have quoted that phrase ever since, to amplify distinctions between religious and political authority.

The "wall of separation" has removed prayer, Christmas crèches and the Ten Commandments from the public square, even though traditions from religious and secular law overlap. Both bolster morality and limit bad behavior; both stem from distinctions between right and wrong that have grown and intertwined throughout human existence. Citizens have forever cherry-picked which intertwining offends and which is OK, depending on their other priorities.

Commandments "You must not murder" and "You must not steal" inform secular laws punishing homicide and theft. The Fourth, "Observe the Sabbath day," has been established by keeping the Christian Sunday work-free for government and business offices alike. Even this litigious country goes loosey-goosey about giving believers and nonbelievers a "holy day" off work.

Abraham Lincoln and the Rev. Martin Luther King mixed religion and politics. After President Obama's second inauguration, controversy raged over lip-synching the national anthem, but nobody groused about performing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" — as aggressive a mix of church and state purposes as you're apt to find in American history. When the oratory is inspiring, objections are few.

Hollywood exploits disregard for the idol and adultery commandments. Politicians have flipped the "must not covet" clause in the Tenth Commandment into a virtue by touting redistribution of your neighbor's money. The First Commandment — "You must not have any other God but me" — often runs afoul of the First Amendment. Still, people prefer to believe in something, and they can mimic an "establishment of religion," as long as they don't call it that.

A contemporary ideology mimicking old-time religion is the "Green" belief system. Traditional religions insist that believers accept on faith phenomena that can't be proved — like the immaculate conception, or Mohammed as the literal voice of Allah. Easygoing interpretation of core beliefs as symbols is inadequate. Outsiders who question articles of faith are assigned nasty labels like "heretic". Strict religionists insist on dress codes, dietary rules and rituals that baffle outsiders. Some Shiite Muslims flog themselves until they bleed; some Buddhists chant until they're in a trance. Some sects shudder before doomsday scenarios like Armageddon, or yearn for a blissful state when every human on Earth adopts the one true faith.

Green beliefs mimic fussy religious strictures and apocalyptic fears. Certain grocery bags and light bulbs are taboo; diners worry if the chickens they're noshing were happy during their brief lives. Canadian oil sands portend "game over for the planet" if development continues. Ancient Greek original sin was the myth of Prometheus, who stole fire and reason from the gods and gave those secrets to man. Contemporary loathers of carbon dioxide would arrogate Zeus-like powers for the state to drive carbon fuels into oblivion. Never mind intermediate consequences or possible miscalculations. They're a small price to pay for better weather 200 years from now.

Harvard evolutionary biologist Edward Wilson's 2012 book, "The Social Conquest of Earth," details how species that form complex societies with division of labor — mainly ants and human beings — have come to dominate the biosphere. Homo sapiens shape not only our own evolution, but species all over the world. Wilson marshals evidence that hard-wired tribalism and omnivorous diets are inherent to humanity's overwhelming success in numbers, but also stoke constant strife. Lesser creatures fight constantly, too, for what Darwin delicately called, "natural selection."

On the last page, Wilson confesses his faith: "Earth, by the 22nd century, can be turned, if we so wish, into a permanent paradise for human beings." Huh? A learned prof positing a permanent paradise seems preposterous. Sophisticated faiths accept our flawed humanity and the constancy of change, yet urge us to continue improvising. Arrogance + utopianism = disillusionment. Humility + hope = realism.